1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle seat. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vehicle seat suitable for a welfare vehicle in which an elderly person, a physically handicapped person or other such persons (hereinafter simply referred to as “occupant”) is capable of easy getting in and out of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional vehicle seat includes a seat main body, a longitudinal sliding mechanism that can move or slide the seat main body in forward and rearward directions of a vehicle over a desired distance, a rotation mechanism that can horizontally rotate the seat main body between a forwardly facing position where it faces a front side of a vehicle and a laterally facing position where it faces a door opening of the vehicle, and a lateral sliding mechanism that can move or slide the seat main body moved between vehicle interior and vehicle exterior via the door opening while the seat main body is in the laterally facing position. Generally, the lateral sliding mechanism is arranged and constructed to laterally move the seat main body while the seat main body is moved vertically (i.e., while the seat main body is moved up and down). Further, the longitudinal sliding mechanism, the rotation mechanism and the lateral sliding mechanism are respectively constructed to be actuated electrically or manually. Such a vehicle seat is taught, for example, by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Number 2004-314714.
According to the vehicle seat thus constructed, the seat main body can be moved between vehicle interior and vehicle exterior via the door opening while the seat main body is rotated to the laterally facing position. As a result, an occupant can easily get in and out of the vehicle.
Further, the vehicle seat includes a wind-up type covering device. The covering device is arranged and constructed to cover a drive mechanism and slide rails of the longitudinal sliding mechanism when the seat main body is moved or slid forwardly. In particular, the covering device is disposed on a vehicle floor so as to be positioned behind the longitudinal sliding mechanism. The covering device is composed of a covering member and a retractor that is capable of winding and unwinding the covering member. A free end portion of the covering member is connected to the seat main body, so that the covering member can be automatically pulled out or unwound from the retractor when the seat main body is moved or slid forwardly. The unwound covering member can cover the drive mechanism and the slide rails of the longitudinal sliding mechanism.
According to the covering device, the drive mechanism and the slide rails of the longitudinal sliding mechanism can be effectively hidden from view when the seat main body is moved or slid forwardly. As a result, an interior appearance of the vehicle can be effectively prevented from being deteriorated.